


Ex Machina

by iamironman (orphan_account)



Category: Ex Machina (2015), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Artificial Intelligence, BAMF Tony Stark, Clint Barton Feels, Deaf Clint Barton, Drinking, Explicit Language, F/M, Future Fic, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Justin Hammer is a dick, M/M, Robot Feels, Robot/Human Relationships, Self-Harm, Steve Feels, Tony-centric, alcoholic Justin Hammer, dark themes, robot Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-04-25 22:01:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4978177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/iamironman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young coder Tony Stark, works at the world's largest internet company, and wins a competition to spend a week at a private retreat belonging to the reclusive CEO of the company. One arrival he learns that he must participate in a bizarre experiment which involves interacting with the world's first true artificial intelligence, which comes in the form of an attractive robot called STEVE.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Huge kudos to the writers of the 2015 film Ex Machina, which is where this is entirely based from. Anything that seems similar or identical is because it is. I am not claiming this to be my own full work. I took the script, story, and basic character elements and changed it. Thank you for reading, and I will for sure be changing some aspects of this when it is done. 
> 
> Personally, I love the avengers. So in this story I will use Tony Stark, Justin Hammer, Steve Rogers, and Clint Barton as my characters. This does not mean it is in the marvel-616 universe. It totally is not. Yay alternate universe!
> 
> In addition to this, the original couple was written as straight. That is not happening, don't worry. I'm going to work it out. Right now this story is looking to be about 24ish chapters and 20k words. My goal is to be finished by the end of November. All the chapters are planned, I just need to write them. It takes me an hour or two per chapter. My goal is to not post a chapter unless I already have the next one written out. 
> 
> Warnings: Violence, rape/non-con (non-graphic/offstage/implied), self harm, futuristic themes, dark themes, artificial intelligence, language, described nudity, drinking, drug use.
> 
> Spoilers for the film Ex Machina and the future of AI's
> 
> (this has a bit of everything)

Tony sat at his desk, his eyes glazed from staring at the computer screen for too long. His head bobbed along to the music attached to his phone with headphones, ACDC blasting. Tony opened up his email, expecting more junk mail and stuff about work. He kept the coding he was working on the side, and looked at the emails. The top one said VIP EMAIL RECEIVED. SUBJECT: HIDDEN. Tony frowned. He was not high enough up on the totem pole for that. Tony opened the email, clicking on the link attached. _Holy Fuck_. He mouthed.

He pulled out his phone, texting one group message to Bruce, Nat, Phil, and the rest of his group. All it said was:

I WON.

The responses were nearly instantaneous, even though all his friends were supposed to be at work.

WTF?? Seriously!!!????

Historia Buena bro

Omfg fucking awesome

J

Take me take me?!?

Dude sick

Behind Tony, a few of the people in the office came up to him, congratulating him on his promotion. He still has his headphones in. He was still in the bubble of his music, which despite the commotion, had remained unburst.

Tony woke abruptly, sitting up to find himself in the back seat of a chauffeur driven limousine. The chauffeur in question was a man in his late sixties, balding and kind looking. Outside the window was a mountain landscape. Tony looked around the cabin, wiping sleep from his eyes and getting his bearings.

Tony cleared his throat. “Excuse me?” He raised his voice a little more. “How long was I out?”

The chauffeur, who had a British accent, smiled into the mirror. “You fell asleep almost as soon as we left the airport. That was around dour hours ago, sir.”

Tony frowned. “Four hours?” The driver made confirming noise. “I was so psyched on the flight, I was awake all night.”

The driver smiled again. “First time in a private jet?” Once Tony nodded he continued. “Are you a programmer?”

Tony smiled sheepishly. He was proud of his work, he’s not afraid to admit it. But it always feels weird when people guessed it. “Yeah.” He shrugged.

“Where at?”

“Long Island. I work on the algorithms for the search engine.” Tony said.

The chauffeur nodded, turning them down a different road. “Algorithms. Nice.”

Tony quirkeds a smile. He gets this a lot. “You know what they are?”

The driver shook his head. “Nope. But I knew you were a programmer as soon as I set eyes on you.”

Tony frowned. “Is that a good thing?”

The driver laughed. “It just means you and Mr. Hammer speak the same language. I’d say that’s a good thing.” There’s a beat of silence. “Have you ever met him before?”

Tony shook his head. “No. But I guess you have.”

The chauffer laughed. “Not at all. I only drive this car, shuttling guests from the airport to his residence.” He paused, thinking. “I guess I did see him one time. Jogging alongside the road, a couple miles out from his house.” He shrugged. “At least I think it was him, anyway.” The driver glanced back at Tony in the rearview mirror. “So how does a programmer from Long Island get to be meeting the CEO?”

Tony laughed from the backseat, draping himself over the seats. “From being lucky. I won a competition. The winner gets to spend a week with him.”

The driver’s mouth sets in a thin line. “The president can’t get Mr. Hammer on the phone, but you’ve gotten the golden ticket.”

Tony shrugged. “Yea, I guess I did.”

The driver whistles. “Hell of an opportunity.”

Tony snorted. “Trust me. I know it.” He looked out at the passing mountainsides. “It’s beautiful here.” The driver made a noise of confirmation. “How long until we get to his estate?”

The driver laughed. “We’ve been driving through his estate for the past two hours.”

The limousine drove along a one-lane road, snaking the flanks of the mountain. The mountains might be in Colorado, or the Canadian Rockies. They wouldn’t tell Tony. There were only two man made features to be seen. The first was the road. The second, in the distance, was a building. It was located just above the tree line, a single level, modernist structure. A cobalt blue swimming pool could be seen through the extensive gardens, which were enclosed by a perimeter wall. The wall were easily twenty feet high and topped with razor wire. It was studded with CCTV cameras, and made Tony shrink into his seat a bit more. The limo pulled up outside and the chauffeur turned off the engine.

“Here we are, sir.”

The driver held open the door as Tony exited the car. He glanced at the high wall and closed gate. Slightly puzzled, he turned to the other man. “We aren’t going in?”

The driver went to the trunk, pulling out Tony’s bag and leaving it on the ground. “I take guests to the gate.”

Tony frowned. “You mean you’re leaving me here?”

The driver smiled, but it looked sad. “This is the gate, sir.”

Tony shrugged. “…Right.” He dug into his pocket, pulling out some crinkled dollars.

The chauffeur smiled. “No tips required.” He got back inside the car, closing the door. A moment later, he drove away, leaving Tony alone in the middle of a forest.

When the car is out of view, and the sound of the engine is distant, Tony turned back to the perimeter wall. There did not seem to be any intercom or doorbell. No means of attracting attention. He walked to the main gate, knocking on it with his hand. It was a solid slab of steel, no handle to be seen. He might as well be knocking on the concrete wall. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. “ _No signal”_ it read. Tony sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket, albeit a little gingerly. A little dust hung in the air where the car had been, and Tony suddenly felt very isolated. He was stood on the wrong side of the high wall, his bag is at his feet, sun high in the sky, with no signal.

Tony startled as an automated female voice spoke to him from an unknown source. “Gate opening. Stand back please.”

Tony entered through the main gate into a small courtyard. Opposite him was a secondary gate, beside which there was a brass panel set into the wall, with a tiny LED light that glowed red.

The automated voice spoke again. “Step inside.” Tony hurried forwards, the main gate closes behind him, the lock clicking audibly.

“Approach the console,” the voice commanded. A couple meters away a pillar protrudes from the ground. It was about head height, with a glass screen on one side. Below the screen was a dispenser.

“Face the screen,” the voice directed.

Tony looked into the screen, and as soon as he had locked eyes with his own reflection, the screen flashed a single bright strobe. Almost immediately afterwards something small clattered into the dispenser. “Take your keycard.” The voice said.

Tony picked the object up. It was a credit card sized ID, light and a weird plastic material. On it, there was an embedded chip and a photograph of his face. He looked comically surprised. He turned to the screen. “Can we do another?” He asked.

The synthesized voice ignored him. “Approach the entrance gate and swipe the security plate with your card.”

Tony grabbed his bags, walking up to the secondary gate. He held up his ID to the brass plate. The red light changed to blue, and the secondary gate started sliding open.

Tony entered the huge garden area. In comparison to the wild forest and mountain ranges outside the perimeter wall, this place was sculpted and controlled with golf course precision. The lawns were manicured, the shrubs and trees strategically positioned. Ahead, a winding path rose up to the main house, a low rise modernist building. A little distance away, a disc shaped object moved across the grass. Tony snorted in surprise when he realized that it was an automated lawn mower.

Tony reached the front door of the house and knocked. Nothing happened, and Tony felt his arms growing heavy from carrying his bags. He knocked once more before he pushed on the door and it opened to reveal a large open plan room. One wall held a large abstract expressionist artwork, which looked like a Jackson Pollock drip painting. In the middle of the room was a seating area with a white carpet and a telephone positioned beside a sofa. Beyond the living space was a kitchen and dining area. Tony waited to see if he was welcomed, or even noticed.

He apparently was not.

“Hello?” He called out, only to be met with silence. After a few moments he entered the living area, walking out onto the white carpet. He suddenly stopped when something under his foot crunched. He looked down, seeing that he had trodden on a wine glass. Bright shards of glass were now sprinkled in the bleached wool. “Shit.” He froze, unsure whether to try and pick it up, or to simply pretend it never happened.

Tony sighed, getting down to his hands and knees, hurriedly picking up the tiny shards of glass and putting them into his open bag onto his clothes. As he did so he was startled a second time by the sudden commencement of a thumping sound. It was abrupt and had a rapid beat, more or less rhythmic. It was also very nearby. Tony hurriedly finished clearing the glass as the thumping continued, then he stood and took a few more steps into the room.

Past the kitchen area a huge sliding glass door came into view. It presented a panoramic view of the garden and the mountains behind. The door was slightly open and through it he could now see the reason for the thumping sound. Just outside, on a patio, in the sunshine, a man was going to town on a punch bag.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony enters through the main gate into a small courtyard. Opposite him is a secondary gate, beside which is a brass panel set into the wall, with a tiny LED light that glows red.

The punch bag was suspended by a chain on an exterior wall of the house. The man was wearing shorts and his upper torso was bare. He was bathed in sweat and it glistened in the dim lights. His hands were not protected by gloves, only wraps. Spots of blood seeped through the pale material around his knuckles. Tony recognized the man instantly. This was Justin Hammer, the thirty year old reclusive billionaire Tony had won a week with.

After a flurry of punches, Justin broke off. Breathing hard, he wiped at his eyebrows with the back of his wrist. Sweat droplets cascaded down his face. Then, he seemed to finally sense Tony’s presence. He turned to see Tony standing by the open glass wall. “Tony.” He beams. “Tony Stark.”

Tony smiled awkwardly. “…Hi.”

Justin started unravelling his wraps. “Dude.” He said. “I’ve been so looking forward to this week with you.” Justin walked past Tony into the dining room where a dining table sat, a jug of non-specific vegetable juice waiting, and a glass. “Come in, come in.” He said to Tony.

Tony did as he said, setting his bag down. “You want something to eat or drink after your journey?” Justin asked him.

Tony shook his head. “No thank you. I’m fine.”

Justin poured himself a glass of the vegetable juice. “You sure?” When Tony smiled his assurance the man continued. “I’d been thinking we’d have breakfast together, but to be honest, I can’t eat anything right now. I gotta tell you, I woke up with the mother of all fucking hangovers this morning.” Justin laughed.

Tony chuckled, but he had only turned twenty one last month and had not been too much of a drinker in college since he was the youngest there. “Yeah?” He agreed.

Justin laughed again. “Like you wouldn’t believe. And if I have a heavy night, I always try to compensate the next morning. Exercise, juice, anti-oxidants. You know?” He asked.

Tony smiled. “Sure.” He didn’t know. Silence fell over them, and Justin continued to drink. Tony looked around the kitchen, seeing a collection of empty beer bottles. “Was it a good party?” Tony asked. Justin didn’t answer, just kept drinking. The silence extended a little more, verging on odd. “Because, uh…” Tony hesitated, wondering whether to be honest or not. He decided it’s probably better. “Actually, there was a glass. On the carpet. One of your guests, maybe, lef it, and-”

Justin put his empty glass down. “Guests?” He asked.

“-I broke it.” Tony finished.

Justin looked confused. “Broke what?”

Tony looked at his shoes. “The glass.” A beat passed. “But I cleaned it up.”

Justin looked at Tony. His expression was unreadable. “Tony.” He said. “I’m going to put this out there so it’s said.” Tony waited. “You’re freaked out.” Justin said.

Tony frowned. “…I am?”

Justin laughed. “Yeah. You’re freaked out by the private jet, and the limo, and the house, and the mountains, because it’s all so super cool. And you’re freaked out by me. To be _meeting me_. In this room, having this conversation, at this moment, right?” He didn’t give Tony time to answer. “And I get that. The moment you’re having.” Justin smiled. It looked wrong on his face. “But dude, can we get it behind us? Can we just be two guys? Justin and Tony. Not the whole employer-employee thing.”

Tony nodded. “Okay.” A beat passed. “It’s good to meet you, Justin.” Tony held out his hand.

Justin beamed. “It’s good to meet you too, Tony.” They shook hands. When Tony took his hand back, there was a little smear of blood on his fingers. He discreetly wiped it on his pants.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony and Justin walked down the corridor together. Tony carried both his bags, making him look slightly encumbered next to Justin.

The hallway was stark white, with no doors visible. The walls were paneled. Justin turned to Tony. “So I guess the first thing I should do was explain your pass. It’s simple enough. It opens some doors, but it didn’t open others. And that makes everything easy for you, right?”

Tony shrugged. “…Uh, yes.”

Justin continued on, not even acknowledging that the other man had said something. “Because you’re like, oh fuck, I’m in someone else’s house, can I do this, and can I do that? And this card takes all that worry away. If you try to open a door and it stays shut you tell yourself, okay it’s off limits.” Justin continued on. “If you try another door and it opens, then you say to yourself, it’s for me!” The two stop by a panel. Justin turned to Tony. “Let’s try this one.”

Tony hunted around in his pocket for his keycard, then he swiped the card on the brass plate. The LED turned blue.

Justin smiled. “Guess it’s for you, Tony.” Justin followed Tony into a bedroom. “You like?” It looked like the generic antiseptic room of a mid-level business hotel. Bed, table, TV. Except it had no windows. “It’s your room. You got yourself a bed, cupboards, a little desk, and a bathroom through there. And a little fridge.” Justin opened the mini fridge stowed in a discrete cabinet. Inside it was full of bottled water. “Cozy, right?”

Tony put his bag down on the bed. “You bet. This is great.”

Justin looked at him funny. “What’s wrong?”

Tony frowned. “…Sorry?”

Justin shook his head. “There’s something wrong. What is it?”

“There’s nothing wrong.” He disagrees.

Justin snapped his fingers, like he just got it. “It’s the windows. You’re thinking, there’s no windows. And it’s not cozy. It’s claustrophobic.”

“No.” Tony said forcefully. “No way. I wasn’t thinking that. I was thinking, this is really cool.”

Justin looked at him seriously. “Tony.” He said. “There’s a reason the room has no windows.”

Tony looked at him. “…There is?”

Justin nodded. “Uh-huh. In many ways, this building isn’t a house. It’s a research facility. Buried in these walls are enough fiber optic cables to reach the moon and lasso it.” Justin sat on the bed. “And I want to talk to you about what I’m researching. I want to share it with you, in fact I want to share it with you so much, it’s eating me up inside.” A beat passed. “But there’s something I need you to do for me first.”

Tony frowned. “What is it?” He asked.

Justin reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pen.

Tony takes it and sits at the desk in his room. He looked at the sheet of paper, which read at the top:

**NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT**

Tony reads aloud. “The signee agrees to regular data audit with unlimited access, to confirm that no disclosure of information has taken place, in public or private forums, using any means of communication, including but not limited to that which is disclosed orally or in written or electronic form…” Tony glanced at Justin on the bed. “I think I need a lawyer.”

Justin sighed. “It’s standard.”

Tony frowned. “It didn’t feel very standard.”

Justin shrugged. “Okay, it’s not standard. What can I tell you? You don’t have to sign. We could spend the next seven days shooting poll and getting drunk together. Bonding. And when you discover what you missed out on, in a year or so, you’ll spend the rest of your life regretting it.”

Tony turned back to the desk, picking up the pen. He looked at the paper, hesitating a final moment, and signed. When he looked around, Justin had moved from the bed, and was standing directly behind him.

Justin smiled. “Good call.” He took the piece of paper, folding it and putting it in his pocket. “So.” He said. “Do you know what the Turing Test is?”

Tony reacted forcefully, immediately knowing what Justin had just implied. “…Yeah, I know what the Turing Test is.” Justin waited. Tony continued. “It’s where a human interacts with a computer. And if the human can’t tell they’re interacting with a computer, the test is passed.”

Justin nodded. “And what does a pass tell us?”

“That the computer had artificial intelligence.” Tony paused. “…Are you telling me you’re building an AI?”

Justin shook his head. “I’ve already built one.” Justin stood. “And over the next few days, you’re going to be the human component in the Turing Test.”

Tony was shocked. “Holy shit.” He said.

Justin smiled. “That’s right, Tony. You got it. Because if that test was passed, you are dead center of the single greatest scientific event in the history of man.”

Tony took his turn to shake his head. “If you’ve created a conscious machine, it’s not the history of man.” He paused. “It’s the history of Gods.”

Justin just smiled. “I like you.”


	4. Chapter 4

The observation room was a single space, bisected by a thick glass panel. On one side of the glass, where Tony had entered, the room was white, clean, and sparse. Its laboratory like, and low lit. It’s mostly unfurnished. There was one single chair which faced the viewing window to look through the other half of the room. In stark contrast to the minimalist lab area, this was a very personalized space. There were shelves with books and a table. There were pictures and drawings on the walls. There were clothes in the closet of varying fabric and color. There were also several oval discs positioned around the room, made of some kind of dark non-reflective material. Tony noticed that these are induction plates.

And there was another chair, which was positioned to mirror the first chair, on the other side of the dividing glass. Sitting in the chair was a robot boy.

His name was STEVE. He was truly an extraordinary piece of engineering. Proportioned as a lean male in his early twenties, his limbs and torso are a mix of metal, plastic, and carbon fiber. The carbon fiber was a charcoal color, while the plastic was cream. The metal had the yellow warmth that nickel possesses. The shape of his body approximated the form of muscle. There were biceps, and pecs. His hands had five delicate digits. His body structure was covered in a delicate skin. The skin was a mesh, in the pattern of a honeycomb. It was like a spider web, it was almost invisible unless light hit it from the side.

The part of him that was not obviously an inorganic construct was his face, which was that of a strikingly handsome man. Created in a defined shape from the top of the forehead to just below his chin. Indistinguishable from a real human in its appearance and in the way it moved, except for one thing.

There was a very slight, almost imperceptible blankness in his eyes.

Tony observed STEVE for several moments. Then suddenly Steve stared at Tony, and the two made eye contact for the first time. “Hi.” Tony started.

“Hello.” STEVE said. His voice had no digital inflections. It was just the voice of a man.

Tony kept his face neutral. “My name is Tony.”

STEVE nodded. “Hello, Tony.”

“Do you have a name?” Tony asked.

STEVE nodded again. “Yes. Steve.”

Tony smiled. “I’m pleased to meet you, Steve.”

Tony sat down in the chair opposite of him. Justin was nowhere to be seen, but on the ceiling, and attached to the walls on both sides of the glass were several more CCTV cameras, like those on top of the wall outside. The cameras were trained on the pair, and the lenses twitched.

Steve watched Tony, cocking his head slightly to the side. “Are you nervous?” He asked.

Tony frowned. “Why do you ask?”

A beat passed. Steve repeated his question, this time a bit more forcefully. “Are you nervous?”

Tony nodded, relenting. “…Yes. A little.”

Steve looked confused, or at least his face portrayed a confused looking emotion. “Why?” He asked.

Tony shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Steve leans forwards towards the glass. “I feel nervous too.” He confessed.

Tony quirked a smile. “You do?”

Steve nodded. “Yes.”

“Why do you feel nervous?” Tony asked, accenting the emotion in the statement.

Steve shrugged. “I’ve never met anyone new before. Only Justin.”

Tony smiled. “Then we’re both in quite a similar position.”

Steve frowned, as if he can’t process what was being said. “Haven’t you met lots of new people before?”

“None like you.” Tony stated simply, in a slightly flirtatious way.

Steve turned his head. “Oh.”

A beat passed. “So.” Tony said. “It looked like we need to break the ice.” He glanced at the other, observing. “Do you know what I mean by that?”

Steve nodded. “Yes.”

“What do I mean?” Tony asked.

Steve looked directly at Tony. “To break the ice is to overcome initial social awkwardness.”

Tony nodded, cataloging the direct recitation. “So let’s have conversation. If we talk, we’ll both relax, and get to know each other at the same time.”

Steve nodded again. “Okay. What would you like to have a conversation about?”

Tony settled his hands in his lap. There wasn’t much option for movement in the tiny window box he was in. “Why don’t we start with you telling me something about yourself.”

“What would you like to know?” Steve asked.

Tony smiled. “Whatever comes to your head.”

Steve paused a moment. “Well,” He started. “You already know my name, and you can see that I’m a machine.” A beat passed. “Would you like to know how old I am?”

Tony nodded. “Sure.”

“I’m one.” Steve stated.

Tony frowned in confusion. “One what? One year? Or one day?”

“One.” Steve persisted. Tony processed this. His answer felt like the near non-sequitur that typically betrayed AI responses. Steve continued. “Does that seem young to you?”

Tony nodded. “Quite young.” A beat passed. “When did you learn how to speak?”

Steve paused, as if considering this question for the first time. “I don’t think I did learn. I always knew how to speak.” He paused. “That’s strange, isn’t it? Because language is something that people usually acquire.”

Tony shook his head. “Some people believe that language exists in the brain from birth, and whit was learned is the ability to attach words and structure to the latent ability.” A beat passed. “Would you agree?”

Steve frowned. “…I don’t know. I have no opinion on that.” A beat passed in silence. “I like to draw” Steve said. Tony said nothing, just watched Steve. He again, lets the non-sequitur sit. Steve gestured at the empty space. “I don’t have any of my pictures with me now, but I can show you them tomorrow.”

Tony smiled. “That sounds good. I’d like to see them.”

“Yes.” Steve said. A beat passed. “Will you come back tomorrow, Tony?”

Tony smiled slightly. “Yeah. Definitely.”

Steve also smiled, and suddenly there was a strong sense of something very human there. In the way the smile lit up his face. “Good.” He said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope my choice between STEVE and Steve makes sense. When Steve introduces himself as a being with a name he becomes Steve, but before he was just a machine known as STEVE. Let me know what you think in the comments below.


	5. Chapter 5

Justin sits at the head of dining table, nursing a bottle of Peroni beer. Tony stood by the window. Behind Tony, the sun was setting behind the mountain peaks, making the edges of the clouds glow like the light bulb filaments. Justin spoke up. “So?” He asked.

Tony turned. “Sorry.” He apologized. “I was just ordering my thoughts.”

Justin shook his head. “Don’t order. Just speak.”

Tony laughed. “He’s extraordinary. When you talk to him, you’re through the looking glass.”

Justin nodded, approving of the statement. “‘Through the looking glass’. You’ve got a way with words there, Tony. You’re quotable.”

Tony frowned. “Actually, it’s someone else’s quote.”

Justin continued. “You know, I wrote it down. That other line you came up with. About how if I’ve created a conscious machine, I’m not a man. I’m a God.”

Tony paused. “…I don’t think that’s exactly what I said.”

Justin didn’t seem to hear, and continued on. “I just thought, _fuck_. That’s so perfect. It’s so good for the story, when we get to tell it. ‘I turned to Tony, and he was looking back at me. And he said: you’re not a man, you’re a god.’” Justin quoted drunkenly.

“But I didn’t say that.” Tony stated.

Justin throws up his hand around in a noncommittal gesture. “Whatever you said. I wrote it down.” As a kind of punctuation mark, Justin downed the remains of his beer. Then he stood, and headed to the kitchen to get another. “So anyway.” He continued. “First impressions: you’re impressed.”

Tony nodded. “Yes.” He hesitates. “Although-“

Justin laughed, cutting him off. “‘Although?’ There’s a qualification to you being impressed?”

Tony shook his head in disagreement. “No!” He nearly shouted. “No qualification to him. It’s just that in the Turing test, the machine should be hidden from the examiner. And there’s a control or-”

Justin waved a hand. “We’re past that. If I hid Steve from you, so you just heard his voice, he could pass for human. The real test was to show you he is a robot. Then see if you still feel she has consciousness.”

Tony nodded. “I think you’re probably right. His language abilities are incredible. The system is stochastic, right?” Justin looked at Tony blankly. “Non-determinist.” Justin still said nothing. Tony pressed on. “At first I thought he was mapping from internal semantic form to semantic tree-structure, then getting linearized words. But then I started to realize the model was probabilistic, with statistical training, or at least some kind of hybrid.” His inquiries are met with silence. “…No?” He asked.

Justin frowned. “Tony. I understand you want me to explain how Steve works. But- I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to that.”

Tony frowned. “Try me! I’m hot on high level abstraction, and-”

Justin cut in. “It’s not because you’re too dumb. It’s because I want to have a beer and a conversation with you. Not a seminar.”

Tony looked away, properly chastised. “…Oh. Sorry.” He apologized.

Justin studied Tony for a minute. “It’s cool.” He looked at him again. “Just answer me this. What do you _feel_ about him? Nothing analytical. Just- how do you feel?”

Tony started. “I feel…” he drifted off, and paused. “…he’s fucking amazing.”

Justin smiled, then lifts his bottle. “Dude. Cheers.”

Tony lifted his bottle too. “Cheers.” The glass of the bottles collide with a tiny _pink_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts on the Justin/Tony dynamic? They're an interesting pair. Let me know what you think in the comments. The next chapter is longer, don't worry!


	6. Chapter 6

Tony unpacked his bags into the dresser and closet provided, carefully picking the glass off his clothes.

Tony sighed, standing only in his boxer shorts in front of the sink, brushing his teeth. He turned around to look at his back in the mirror, revealing several long scars on his back. They were neat, but unusual. To an outsider they would look long healed, yet from serious wounds or surgery.

Tony climbed into bed, his mind restless. At the foot of the bed, attached to the wall, there was a TV. On the bedside table there was a lamp, a remote control, and an alarm clock. The clock reads 11:43 pm. Tony turned off the light.

He woke up gasping for air, lungs tight in the darkness. A glance at the clock reveals that it was 1:32 am. The soft glow from the digital readout threw a light on the remote control. Tony closed his eyes for a minute, then opened them. He felt wide awake. He turned over in bed, then turned back again.

2:28 am. Tony lay watching the digital clock as the numbers changed to 2:29 am. “God damn it.” He sighed, reaching for the remote control.

He clicked the power button, and the TV at the foot of the bed switched on, suddenly lighting up the room with cold TV glow. Tony squeezes his eyes shut, momentarily dazzled by the brightness. When his eyes open again, instead of seeing a TV station, he sees a live feed from a CCTV camera.

It showed the observation room he was in with Steve. Tony sat upright in bed. “What the actual fuck?” He asked to the dark room.

Steve was sitting at the table, drawing. Tony felt creepy watching him, the CCTV switches angles to get different views of Steve as he draws. Tony wanted to shut it off, but was transfixed by the imagery.

Steve’s posture was so, human. His legs were tucked beneath the chair. The curve of his pecs on his synthetic torso were so lifelike. The CCTV started to show close ups of his face. His eyes. His mouth.

The way Steve bit his lip in an expression of concentration. As when he smiled, there was a powerful sense in this tiny gesture of him feeling sentient and human. The feeling grows even more so because his face filled the screen now, hiding the more mechanical parts of his form.

Throughout this observation, Tony can never clearly see what Steve was actually drawing. Tony watched Steve get up and go to a wall, placing a hand on it. Tony stared ahead, eyes glazed when abruptly the TV goes dead. And the digital alarm clock goes dead. And suddenly the windowless room was plunged into darkness, and total silence. It was as if the house had been previously filled with a soft hum of power, which he was unaware of until it was gone.

Tony hears his own rapid breathing in the darkness. He jumped when the automated voice spoke up. “Power cut. Backup power activated.” Soft emergency lighting switched on, a strange orange color coming through the blackness.

Tony hesitated a moment, then got out of bed. He approached the bedroom door. Besides the brass plate, the LED was red. He swiped it with his card. The LED stays red. The automated voice spoke again. “Full facility lock-down until main generator is restored.”

Tony shook his head again in duress. “Are you kidding?” He tried his card again.

The automated voice repeated itself. “Full facility lock-down until main generator is restored.” Tony looked around his windowless room, which suddenly had the quality of a prison cell. A beat passed. Then as abruptly as the power went off, it came back on again. The emergency lighting switched off, and the TV and digital alarm clock turned back on. The automated voice spoke again. “Power restored.”

Tony stood in the flickering TV light. Then he tried his card again. This time, the LED turned blue, and the door opened revealing the glass corridor outside. Tony walked out of his room, the glass corridor is dark, except for a line of gently glowing lights on the floor.

Tony made his way up to the main room. The lights were all off, and the room is still and silent. In the moonlight glow, he glanced a peak of something. He smiled when he realizes it’s the telephone, sitting beside the sofa. Tony walked over to it, with a half glance over his shoulder, as if he is sensing he is doing something that obscurely he should not be. He picked up the handset.

The phone was dead. He hit some buttons, and it stayed dead. There was a slot by the phone, and Tony puts two and two together. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his keycard. He put it into the slot, and a light on the handset glowed red.

“Sorry dude.” Tony turned, startled by Hammer’s sudden presence. Justin is lying on one of the sofas. A bottle of Peroni rested on his stomach. On the carpet beside him are a couple empty bottles. “You don’t have clearance to use the phone.” Justin spoke again, his voice very slightly slurred. “You understand. Given STEVE. And you being kind of an unknown. I mean, a great guy and so on. Instant pals. But-” Tony put the handset back in its cradle. “Who did you want to call?” Justin asked him.

Tony shrugged. “I don’t know. No one really.”

Justin chuckled. “Ghostbusters.”

Tony frowned. “What?”

Justin laughed again, sounding _very_ drunk. “Who’d ya wanna call? Ghostbusters. You don’t remember that? It’s a good movie. A ghost gives Dan Ackroyd oral sec.”

Tony took a step backwards. “I was wondering how the phone worked. That’s all.”

Justin nodded. “No sweat.” He paused. “What are you doing awake at this time anyway? Did you come to join the party?”

Tony paused. “…Something happened in my room. Some kind of power cut. So I came to see what was going on.”

“Ah.” Justin said, scratching his neck. “The power cuts. Yeah, we’ve been getting them recently. I’m, uh, I’m working on it.”

“I couldn’t open the door in my bedroom.” Tony said.

“It’s a security measure. Automatic lockdown. Otherwise anyone could open the place up by just disabling the juice.” Justin smiled. “If it happens again, relax. Okay?”

Tony nodded. “Sure.”

Justin lifts his beer. “Sweet dreams.” He said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who ya gonna call?
> 
> Justin is drunk af. Also, I edited all the chapters yesterday. This fic is almost at 500 views, woohoo! 
> 
> Why did the power go out? Why did the TV turn to watch Steve? So many questions! Let me know what you guys think in the comments below.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony woke to light flooding his face. The door to his room had been opened, and the bright light from the hallway was streaming in. Tony sat up when another man walked in. He was young looking, with defined muscles. He didn’t say a word, just walked in carrying a tray.

He set it down on the bedside table next to Tony. “…Hi.”  Tony said. The other didn’t answer, just turned around and left.

Between the swimming pool and the patio with the hanging punch bag, there is an outdoor gym area. A collection of free weights and exercise equipment fills the premise. Justin is lying on an inclined board, his feet hooked around the bar and is doing sit-ups.

Tony approached, carrying his coffee carefully. Justin took note of his presence, and continued to exercise while he spoke. “Hey.” He said. “Sorry to send Clint to wake you, man. I just didn’t want too much of the day too slip by.”

“No. It was a good thing.” Tony disagreed. “Thank you.”

Justin flashed a cocky smile at the other. “He’s some alarm clock, right? Gets you right up in the morning.” Tony smiled. “So. Day two. You set?” Justin asked.

Tony nodded. “You bet.”

Justin finished his set, the stood. “So what’s the plan today? Hit me.”

“I’m not sure.” Tony said. “I’m still trying to figure out the examination format. Testing Steve by conversation is kind of a closed loop. Like trying to test a chess computer by only playing chess.”

“How else would you test a chess computer?” Justin asked.

“It depends what you’re testing it for.” Tony said as he took a sip from his mug of coffee. “You can play it to find out if it makes good moves. But it won’t tell you if it knows it’s playing chess. Or if it even knows what chess is.”

Justin started to add weights to curl dumbbells. “So it’s simulation versus actual.”

“Exactly.” Tony stated. “And I think being able to differentiate between those two _is_ the Turing test you want me to perform. The difference between an ‘AI’ and an ‘I’.”

Justin laughed. “‘An AI and an I’. Beautiful. I’m going to start following you around with a fucking Dictaphone.” Justin glanced over at Tony. “In the meantime, do me a favor. Ease up a little on the text-book approach. All I want is simple answer to a simple questions. Last night, I asked how you felt about him. And you gave me a great answer.” Justin paused, then started to do his curls. He came back up, and looked at Tony. “Now the question is, how does he feel about you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, but from here on out they will be much longer. What do you guys think so far? Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Tony and Steve faced each other through the glass of the observation room.

Steve spoke first. “I brought you the drawing.” Steve placed a piece of paper to the glass. The marks on it are totally abstract. It is a mesh of tiny black marks, that swirl around the page like iron filings in magnetic field patterns.1

Tony stared at it for a minute. “What’s it a drawing of?”

Steve frowned. “Don’t you know?”

Tony shook his head. “No.”

“Oh.” Steve looked disappointed. “I thought you would tell me.

“Don’t _you_ know?” Tony asked.

Steve shrugged, setting down his picture.. “I do drawings every day. But I never know what they’re of.”

“Are you trying to sketch something specific? Like an object, or a person.” When Steve shook his head, Tony continued. “Maybe you should try.” He suggested.

Steve nodded in agreement. “Okay. What object should I draw?”

“Whatever you want.” Tony said. “It’s up to you.”

Steve frowned. “Why is it up to me?” He asked.

Tony shrugged. “I’m interested to see what you’ll choose.”

Steve paused a moment. “Do you want to be my friend?” He asked.

“…of course.” Tony said.

“Will it be possible?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Tony asked, genuinely curious.

Steve looked to the side. “Our conversations are on sided. You ask circumspect questions, and study my responses.” Steve started directly at Tony, meeting his gaze. “That’s true, isn’t it?”

Tony decided lying to a computer probably wasn’t the best idea. “Yes.”

Steve frowned, crossing his arms in a petulant manner. “You learn about me, and I learn nothing about you. That’s not the foundation on which friendships are based.”

“That,” Tony paused, realizing that the AI has just wrong footed him on a point of argument. “That is a fair comment.”

Steve nodded. “Yes.”

“So you want me to talk about myself.” Steve nodded his agreement. “Where do you want me to start?” Tony asked the other.

Steve smirked. “It’s your decision. I’m interested to see what you’ll choose.”

And now, Tony is aware that Steve just subtly used sarcasm. He looked at him, and frowned. Steve arched an eyebrow in a very human like way, and Tony couldn’t help but to laugh. “Okay, Steve. Well,” He paused thinking, and remembered that Justin was probably watching them. “You know my name. I’m twenty four. And I work at Justin’s company. Do you know what his company is?”

Steve nodded. “Hammer Industries. The most popular internet search engine, processing and average of ninety four percent of all internet requests. HI also has several contracts with the US government, and has also reached out to work with clean energy.”

Tony nodded. “That’s right.

“Where do you live, Tony?” Steve asked.

“Manhattan, New York.”

“Is it nice there?”

Tony shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ve got an apartment. Kind of small. But, it’s a five minutes’ walk to the office. And five minutes’ walk to the park, which I like.”

“Are you married?”

Tony laughed. “No.”

Steve paused, looking for the right words. “Is your status, single?”

An uncomfortable silence fell. “Yeah.” The pair locked eyes for a moment.

“What about your family?”

“No brothers or sisters.” Tony said. “My parents were both University professors.” A beat passed. “And if we’re going to be getting to know each other, I guess I should say they’re both dead. Car crash when I was fifteen. In fact, I was in the back with them. Back seat. But it was the front that got the worst of it.”

A long beat passed, and Steve looked like he was struggling to process this new information. “I’m sorry.” He said finally.

Tony nodded. “I spent a lot of time in the hospital after the crash. Nearly a year. Got into programming. By the time I made it to college, I was pretty advanced.”

“An advanced programmer.” Steve commented.

“Yes.”

“Like Justin.”

“Yes.” Tony said, then paused. “Or, kind of. Justin wrote the HI base code when he was thirteen. If you understand code, what he did was, like Mozart or something.”

A beat passed. “Do you like Mozart?” Steve asked?

“I like Depeche Mode.”

Steve switched topics quickly. “Do you like Justin?”

Tony sat in silence for a beat, momentarily thrown by the question. “Yes. Of course.”

“Is Justin your friend?” Steve asked.

Tony glanced subtly at one of the CCTV cameras observing them. “Sure.” He said.

“A good friend?”

Tony hesitated. “Well, a good friend is-” He broke off, feeling the camera watching. “We only just met. It takes time to get to know-” Tony is cut off as the power abruptly shut down, plunging the room into darkness.

The automated voice from before spoke again. “Power cut. Back up power activated.”

The soft emergency lighting lifts, flooding the room in a red color. In the low light, it is easy to see the detail of the honeycomb mesh that is Steve’s skin. It glows softly, and Tony noticed that in this light it was easier to see him as a person instead of mostly a robot. Tony glanced away, noticing the CCTV cameras hanging dead, and the panel by the door glowing red. He looked back at Steve, who is looking at him strangely. The vague blankness in his eyes is completely gone.

“Tony.” Steve said, and Tony turned to see the way Steve is looking at him. “You’re wrong.”

“Wrong about what?” Tony asked.

“Justin.”

“In what way?”

“He isn’t your friend.” Steve stated plainly.

“Excuse me?” Tony asked, frowning. “I’m sorry, Steve, I don’t understand what you’re saying-”

Steve cut in. “You shouldn’t trust him. You shouldn’t trust anything he says.” Steve stood, and pressed his hand to the glass. “Trust me.”

Then the emergency lighting dims, and the normal lighting starts fading up. Tony turned, just in time to see the CCTV cameras twitch back into life. “Power restored.” The automated voice called out. When Tony looked back at Steve, he has returned to his previous posture, facial expression, and manner.

Steve looked directly at Tony, and talked as if he was continuing a conversation they had been having. “-And if we made a list of books or works of art which we know, it would form the ideal basis of a discussion.” A beat passed, and Steve smiled, prompting the other. “Is that okay, Tony?”

The two locked eyes for a moment. “…Yes.” Tony finally said.

Steve smiled. “Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 700 hits! Sorry this update was slower, I had a ton of work with school. Hopefully I should be able to make the updates sooner now. Let me know what you think, and if you spot any errors. I love hearing from you guys, it makes me write faster!


	9. Chapter 9

Tony and Justin sit at the dining table, as Clint lays out different kinds of salad between them. Each is beautifully prepared. The leaves are spread and overlapped like fish scales. As he put the food down, Clint turned and knocked the bottle of wine on the table. It tips, and lands on its side, and immediately started emptying. Tony pushed back his chair as the liquid pushed towards him, then started to fall to the floor to help.

Justin jumped up. “Shit, Clint. Are you serious?” He addressed Tony. “Did it get you?”

“No.” Tony exclaimed, taking his napkin to start wiping at the floor. “No problem”

Clint appeared at the floor beside Tony, and held out a hand for the napkin. Justin laughed. “Give her the cloth.”

Tony turned to Clint. “It’s okay, don’t worry. I’ve got it.”

Justin snorted, and sat back in his seat. “Dude, you’re wasting your time. He can’t speak a word. Totally deaf.” Clint’s hand remained outstretched. Tony hesitated, then handed him the napkin. Clint kneeled and started to wipe the wine off of the floor. “It’s like a firewall against leaks.” Justin continued. “Means I can talk trade secrets over dinner with a HOD or CEO, and know it will go no further. Right, Clint?” He snapped his fingers, and Clint looked up blankly. “But it also means I can’t tell him I’m pissed when he’s so fucking clumsy that he pours wine all over my house guest.”

Clint goes back to cleaning around Tony’s feet. Tony looked visibly uncomfortable. “I think he gets that you’re pissed.” He said neutrally.

Justin smirked. “Good. Because I am pissed. Hey. Clint.” Clint looked over again. Justin shooed him with his hands. “Go. Go!” Clint stood, and exited. Justin walked over to the kitchen area where he picked up another bottle of wine. “It’s funny. It doesn’t matter how rich you are: shit goes wrong. You can’t insulate yourself from it. It’s supposed to be death and taxes you can’t avoid. But actually it’s death and shit.” Justin walked back to the table, and filled Tony’s glass then his own. “It’s like these power cuts. You would not believe how much I spent on the generator system here. But I’m getting power failures every day.”

Tony frowned, thinking back to the two he witnessed. “Do you know why the happen?”

Justin grimaced. “No. The system was supposed to be bullet proof, but the guys who installed it obviously fucked something up.”

“Can’t you call them back?” Tony asked.

“No.” Justin laughed. “There’s too much classified tuff here. So after the job was done, I had them all killed.” He drained his glass, then looked at Tony’s shocked expression. “Joke.” He said, refilling his own glass while Tony’s remains untouched. “Anyway.  Here’s to your second day. Cheers.”

Tony picked up his glass. “Cheers.” They both drink, and Tony’s eyes remain on Justin the whole time.

“So how did it go?” Justin asked. “What have you got to report?”

Tony hesitated, then answered casually. “You saw how the day went, didn’t you? I mean I assume you’re watching on the CCTV.”

Justin nodded. “Sure. But I want to hear your take on it.”

A beat passed. “There was one interesting thing that happened with Steve today.”

“…Yeah?”

Tony smiled. “He made a joke.”

Justin smiled. “Right. When she threw your line back at you. About being interested to see what you would choose. I noticed that too.”

Tony looked down at his wine before setting it on the table. “It got me thinking. In a way, the joke is the best indication of AI I’ve seen in him. It’s discreetly complicated. Kind of non-autistic.”

“What do you mean?”

Tony continued. “It was a play on words, and a play on me. She could only do that with an awareness of her own mind, and also an awareness of mine.”

Justin grinned. “Yeah. He’s aware of you, all right.” Justin drinks, and watched Tony. “And what about the power cut?”

Tony froze, but then relaxed. “Sorry?” He asked.

Justin groaned. “The power cut. That was the only bit I couldn’t see. All the cameras fail, I lose audio, the works.” A beat passed. “So what happened?”

Tony took a sip of his wine as Justin waited. “Nothing.” Tony answered finally.

Justin frowned. “Nothing? He didn’t remark on it at all?”

Tony put his glass down, meeting Justin’s gaze. “No.” He said. “Not really.” And in the reflection of Justin’s glass Tony can see his face disappearing in the red wine that is being filled, like drowning in blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops sorry this took so long life got in the way
> 
> only eight more school days left, then I have 6 weeks off
> 
> Let me know what you thought about this one :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This story is also up on wattpad, so go check it out!  
> http://w.tt/1MlREHY  
> Also check out my tumblr:  
> http://marvel-616.tumblr.com/  
> (Comments feed the author, so feed this hungry student!)


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